Michael Mayer, director of "Spring Awakening," poses backstage with his Tony for Best Director of a Musical at the 61st Annual Tony Awards in New York, Sunday, June 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen) (Associated Press)

(Newser)
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The Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard’s marathon glance back at 19th-century Russia, became czar of the Tonys at last night's 61st annual ceremony in New York. The $7-million, 8-hour epic claimed more statuettes than any drama in history—including honors for best play and director—in a year when Broadway attendance smashed records.

Spring Awakening, a musical about sex-crazed teens in the same epoch in Germany, won big in its category, taking home eight awards including musical and book; the voters snubbed the more profitable revival of A Chorus Line. The best actress in a play trophy made for the most drama, with Julie White of The Dog that Laughed beating out legends Vanessa Redgrave and Angela Lansbury.